Catching up with Julian's Walt Lemon Jr. at Bradley

Walt Lemon Jr. acknowledges the role luck played in the running 3-pointer off the backboard that gave Bradley a 69-66 victory over Missouri State on Jan. 19.

The ball bounced the 2010 Julian graduate's way again Saturday against Illinois-Chicago, this time back into hands after he nearly air-balled a game-winning attempt in the closing seconds.

The player that left Chicago for Peoria would not have done what Lemon proceeded to do in his homecoming at the Pavilion.

"When I got it back I thought, 'We're down one and I'm going to the basket,'" Lemon said. "I looked up and a dude was setting up to take the charge. On the road, charge-block situation, I know I'm not getting the call."

Lemon drove into the lane and ripped off a pass to Jake Eastman for a buzzer-beating layup in a 63-62 victory, and another highlight in a turnaround season during which Bradley (16-13 through Tuesday) has already won nine more games than it did last winter.

"That was a huge step for me," Lemon said. "In the past I probably would have driven to the hole and charged. When I got here I was so much faster than everybody, but I only played at one speed. I didn't see the game the way I do now."

Blazing fast with a reported 48-inch vertical jump, Lemon was raw but athletic enough to be a factor the second he showed up in Peoria.

He scored 16 points in his first game and averaged 6.4 during a promising freshman season, but the transformation didn't really begin until Geno Ford replaced Jim Les.

Lemon was nobody's idea of a point guard then — nobody except Ford, who was willing to live with the turnovers because of the amount of plays Lemon was able to make with the ball in his hands.

A first-team Missouri Valley Conference scholar-athlete in 2012, Lemon raised the level of his game significantly in each of his two college offseasons.

After averaging 12.6 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists as a sophomore, he was at 15.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.3 steals heading into Wednesday night's game with Creighton.

He's averaging 17.4 points in conference games and has improved from 66.7 to 78 percent at the line.

"Walt is the hardest worker I've had in 17 years," Ford said. "I don't say that because it sounds nice or it is what a coach should say. I've never had a guy work as hard on his game. He lives in the gym, lives in the film room.

"He has made monumental jumps in the two offseasons I've experienced with him. I have no doubt he will find a way to make another jump. His numbers can only improve so much point, but he can still get better and I have no doubt he will work as hard as he can to make it happen."

Walt Lemon Jr. file

College: Bradley.

Class: Junior.

High school: Julian.

Position: Guard.

Height: 6-3.

Stats: 15.5 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 2.3 steals.

FYI: With little fanfare, Lemon, Phil Greene (St. John's) and Jamari Traylor (Kansas) were Julian teammates in 2009-10. The team went 15-10Lyons by two in a regional final. The following year, Greene and Traylor transferred to IMG Academy in Florida to play for former Julian coach Loren Jackson.